Rubashkin Cleared of Child-Labor Charges

Former Agriprocessors executive Sholom Rubashkin has been acquitted of charges that he allowed minors to work at his kosher meatpacking plant, the first legal victory he’s scored in a long time.

After a five-week trial in an Iowa state court and 12 hours of deliberations, a seven-person jury on Monday cleared Rubashkin of the 67 misdemeanor charges in a verdict that made Rubashkin crack a smile in court and drew the praise of his defense attorneys.

“It’s been a long-running American opera,” defense attorney F. Montgomery Brown said outside the courthouse, the Des Moines Register reported. “This act was written by a very courageous jury. This act can never be taken away from Sholom and his family—ever.”